Fading Memory

Aesithas (D&D 5e Homebrew) - On Hiatus

Response to Amaryllis Backstory

@Guardian Angel Haruki
Alright, a Sign in the Stars; we can work with that. That works out pretty well actually. I'm big on 'Open Secrets' for the table, so I prefer sharing things like this with the room so folks know to work around each other and collaborate, so here's what I have in mind for the Hermit Discovery based on what you put here- but it also goes with a slight adjustment to the backstory, so let me know if you're cool with this.

The Heartlands lie alongside the high ridge of the southern edge of the Dale, a verdant forest sprouts and was once tended by the Wooden Ones in a gentle fashion- but a Rot has set in there, decay gripping a place that was once fertile and wholesome and warping it into a shadowy place tainted by a vile taste in the air. The Wooden Ones who lived there have cut off contact with the rest of the world, and there is a dissonance in the dialogue of the Everbloom- the Heartlands are utterly abandoned, and those who enter rarely return.

Recent History; The Heartlands

This is what I'd written for the 'recent history' of the Heartlands, so Amaryllis' isolation and time of study works quite well here. She'd have been planted and tasked with her study and learning; (This is my suggested add-on) but after a while her isolation would have become true; the visits from her mother and father would have suddenly ceased, and she would have been left to her own devices to witness the slow decay of the wood around her as she finalized her growth and continued her study of the stars. This unnatural rot that was spreading through the wood would have been a very direct and personal thing pushing her to go and find outside help; if she tried to explore around or seek familiar faces she would have been met by what to her would seem like madness and violence. In short, she would be made to flee the Heartland and seek aid.

As for the discovery in the stars; Someone in her position, studying the heavens for such an extended period of time and witnessing the movement of the stars, her Great Discovery would be that some of those stars are moving. A key constellation has shifted ever so slightly, drifting across a lifetime, into a new shape. Something shorter lived creatures would never have noticed, but something strange and unique to your circumstances.

The Constellation in question is called 'Renyo's Gateway', and it is said to be the heavenly path to the home of the Gods. It resembles an arched gateway, but Amaryllis has seen strange drift in its shape.

As always, DM Cackling, You Have Family ^TM.

Response to I'Rajith's Backstory

@Vertigo
This one requires little thorough response from me; I like it. I can work with a theatrical and good natured crime group operating in secret and at odds with other groups in the Dale.

You earn a mere DM Cackle; You Have Family ^TM, for your details are easy to plug into just about anything.

lmao I accidentally bopped my own CS thread, dang quick hands.

Aesithas (D&D 5e Homebrew) - On Hiatus

--Woops--

Aesithas (D&D 5e Homebrew) - On Hiatus

@Vertigo the only thing that's a bit off from what I've written is that a 10 year old Noctem would be closer to a 20-22 year old human; I made their lifespan but relative age roughly a half/double ratio to a human's, otherwise you hit the nail on the head with the idea. Small children that suddenly sprout into full sized bodies before co-ordination can really set in, who rapidly develop the full cognitive abilities of an adult with their shared experiences. That's Noctem.

Aesithas (D&D 5e Homebrew) - On Hiatus

Sounds good, no complaints from me, ship may sail, cargo manifest is secure, so on and so forth.

Aesithas (D&D 5e Homebrew) - On Hiatus

@Goldmarble

I like the background; simple, captures tone, puts a few dart throws at the map, and sets up Durwood well to answer The Summons. Nothing to add or nudge here at all, I'll be adding Selside Village and Knettishall to my notes and tying them into the Dale Lands.

Aesithas (D&D 5e Homebrew) - On Hiatus

@Vertigo

1) Just let me know what you're switching and what your justification for the character is; it's usually going to be okay, I'm not such a stickler, I just didn't want the stat shuffling since I made the races 'fantastic'.

2) Yep! I intentionally kept the Noctem to +4 net instead of +5 net because I baked in what I felt was a powerful racial ability to pick-and-choose mini-multiclass. The +4 vs +5 was part of that mental-gymnastic-routine that I called 'balance' in my own head; the physical folks get caps bumped to 24, mental folks to 22, and Noctem get slightly less raw stats to compensate for their greater versatility. That was the design intention at least, and 1 stat point often isn't a huge difference in the grand scheme.

Additionally the caps were placed where they were, and the stat bonuses assigned how they were, to compensate for a common perception of 'magic wins D&D'; I made the physically inclined races truly exceptional, while still making the magically inclined ones fantastic compared to the human- all while trying to keep the human relevant in its versatility and rolling in what I thought was a very fitting ability for Humans in Fantasy.

The Yurazen Prince - A Tale of Redwall

Me forgetting about mother’s day definitely contributed to my own delay.

Aesithas (D&D 5e Homebrew) - On Hiatus

I have now added snippets for the Storied Road and the Journey of Du'Eld; I decided to take it easy instead of pumping out the full length stories I had in mind for either lol.

Aesithas (D&D 5e Homebrew) - On Hiatus

Response to Fellsing Backstory

...He had a mate who loved him and trusted him to always return to her... He had four children who he was raising and training to serve the tribe...

...After a particularly grueling battle against some creatures from the Lands Beyond, Vigil and the rest of his patrol were ambushed and captured by a band of humans, who took Vigil and his surviving comrades away from his home and all the way to a city in the Dale Lands. Here, they were put into servitude, forced to participate in gladiatorial matches for the entertainment of cruel nobles and whoever else had enough coin to bet on such fights... his desire to one day hopefully see his family again kept him from giving up. Over time, he became more and more savage, brutal in taking down his foes, and gained some notoriety.

This came to a head he was put up against one of the warriors from his own tribe, leading to a very brutal fight that lead to his tribe mate dead and Vigil near-fatally wounded... managed to escape by playing dead and managing to sneak out. He had spent the last few months simultaneously trying to make his way home to his tribe and dragging his paws out of shame for the terrible acts he had committed while in the arena... Hoping to redeem himself and wanting to stop anything that might threaten his tribe, far away as they may be, Vigil heads towards Fenhall

@XxFellsingxX

You may add to your notes or to the backstory however you see fit that his time in this arena it was...

Underground, he had no real way of tracking time while down there. His escape may have been hectic or endangered, and so while he would be able to recall or revisit the general area he escaped from it's best for the purposes of gameplay if he can't directly recall or trace his steps back to it for whatever reasons you see fit. Perhaps it was a relatively long time ago and time has faded the memories of its precise location? Maybe he was too injured, escaping while under threat, that it all became a blur? Perhaps he willingly repressed it in his shame? Just think on this, let it be a trauma to be healed and revisited later rather than something you have a direct path back to from the get-go. Knowledge of something nefarious beneath the crumbling world, but not a ribbon-tied plot thread ready to be finished from the start.

The people who came all wore masks and robes, hiding their identities, but he could have assumed or guessed that they had to have access to great resources or wealth to maintain that sort of arena and gleamed that there was a hierarchy and deference to their society. His having regularly interacted with/seen certain individuals may give rise to interactions down the line or create interesting possibilities with Plot Points. Feel free to be creative with this, just don't try to use them to modify or implicate any NPCs that I make with this ordeal; I'll be tying it into some of my Lands of the Dale notes already. Certain symbols, voices, or phrases, may indeed be 'triggering' and reveal that some people are not what they seem to be to Vigil and I will make those things clear.

You have a family. Excellent. DM cackling.

Response to Karamonnon Backstory

Stubborn and ambitious, Zzyvia has been taught under a strict master during her early days as spawn. The lessons were grueling and took many, long years, but she has finally completed his tutelage when she defeated him in combat. Still, she was unsatisfied and still strived to further perfect her craft.

She decided that to fully master her weapons art, she also has to master creating them first. Better known now as Iris, she travels the world, practicing and learning from many craftsmen and fighters alike. She has also joined a guild whose members also acted as her mentor when she was first learning the craft.

In her travels, she has seen the decline of Aesithas herself and upon hearing the Summons, decided it was a good use of her skills and potentially an even greater opportunity to improve herself.

@karamonnom

Ah, an ambitious little thing. She has overcome her master and begun travelling; that's all good, I can get behind that, her time for lessons are over and now she must have experience and purpose. That's a simple and good character motivation for leaving home and going on a journey, I dig it. I'll make notes on your master for later in the game, the Cloud Kingdom was an area I was lacking in NPC planning (and I don't intend us to reach it until somewhat later anyway), but being able to use your backstory to place a master monk in the Old Nimbus' retinue will be a handy thing indeed.

Your character would be set up to be one of the more well travelled individuals, but for the purposes of the game your journey will have been slow going and filled with suspicions and wariness until you were able to get settled in in regions. Your eventual recognition within a craftsman's guild as a smith would have eased this, and Iris would have had steady work on her journey across the Dale Lands- though official guild lodging is rare and frequently only in larger towns, where they'd only risk the journey to smaller villages as needed for special tasks or duties. This note is mostly to set the tone for what Iris would have witnessed with these two facets of the current backstory, and if you decide to add more later I'll address that too.

No rush to anyone, just addressing what I've read so far and giving small nudges or notes.

Aesithas (D&D 5e Homebrew) - On Hiatus

Someone’s PM’d questions indirectly reminded me I owe you lot details on The Storied Road and the Journey of Du’Eld. I ghosted it in making the ‘recent history’ and ‘The Summons’; I have now remembered to do it.